Pompei

Pompeii was the major reason I wanted to stay in the area around Naples. I’ve always wanted to see the site, but I was completely blown away by just how enormous the actual area was. Unfortunately, we made three pivotal mistakes.

The first was booking an audio guide without considering that it had to be returned by 5 pm, despite the site itself being open until 7 pm. We had a few things to do in the morning, so we didn’t arrive at Pompeii until around 2 pm. I hadn’t even considered that the audio guides would close before the site itself, but it ended up having a major impact on how long we could spend exploring.

The second mistake was food. Stef had previously recommended that I try a fried pizza while in Naples, and when we found somewhere selling them, we each grabbed one. The pizza itself was actually very good. The problem was the sheer size of it and the ridiculous amount of grease that came with it. Quite literally the last thing you want to consume immediately before walking around an enormous archaeological site in midday heat. Despite how good it was, the timing was fucking awful.

The third mistake was probably the biggest: we didn’t look at the map before we started. I knew we were going to be restricted by time, but I massively underestimated the size of Pompeii. I figured we could probably see most of it in three hours. I was very wrong. We spent roughly an hour just exploring the houses section of the city before realising that many of the major monuments were on the opposite side of the site. Even getting from one side to the other took ages. By the time we reached the amphitheatres and larger monuments, we were running out of time and had to rush through them. Thankfully, we did manage to see everything we particularly wanted to see, although having some extra time at those final sites would have been nice.

By that point, though, I think Jack had pretty much had enough anyway. Overall, I’m very glad we went, but better planning could have made the experience significantly more enjoyable. The audio guide itself also wasn’t quite as effective as I had hoped either. It was often difficult to understand exactly what the guide was referring to when describing different aspects of each area. Even more frustratingly, the audio guide repeatedly told us to walk through different sections of the site that we simply couldn’t access. I’m not sure whether we happened to visit on a day when certain areas were closed, or whether they only open small sections at certain times, but either way, it made the guide somewhat confusing. We were often left listening to descriptions of things that were supposedly nearby, while trying to figure out whether we could actually see them. In the end, we were essentially matching what we could see with what the guide was describing and hoping we were looking at the right thing.

Despite all of that, the site itself was incredible. It is difficult to comprehend just how well preserved Pompeii is, particularly considering its age and the sheer size of the city. Walking through it, you can genuinely start to picture how functional and developed the city must have been when people were actually living there. The scale was breathtaking. It’s one thing to see individual ruins and monuments, but walking through entire streets, houses, public buildings and entertainment venues gives you a much better understanding of what life must have looked like almost 2,000 years ago.

I’m very glad I got to experience it, but I definitely want to return one day and do it properly. There were guided tours available, but the cheaper options only lasted around two hours, and I feel like they would inevitably have to skip over some of the things I would be interested in. Next time, I’ll find a proper tour, give myself plenty of time and actually explore the site without constantly checking the clock.

By the end of it, we were completely beat and more than ready for bed. We caught the train back, made it home, and did exactly that.Read more